Diagnosing cancer in primary care is difficult. Many patients present with non-specific symptoms and the positive predictive value of even the ‘red flag’ symptoms is low. In this podcast, Dr Thomas Round and Professor Willie Hamilton discuss the issues around cancer diagnosis in primary care, including the positive predictive value of symptoms, the increasing number of two-week wait referrals and the usefulness of tests such as Ca125.

Financial support for the project was provided as an Independent Medical Education Grant from Pfizer Limited. Editorial and content decisions were made solely by the RCGP.

Reviewed and updated: April 2026